envirochick

Take a look at some of the travel guides out there that focus on good, centrally located, budget properties. Rick Steves books have good suggestions as does lonely planet and rough guides. Authors have physically stayed in the accommodations they recommend. They've been spot on for me re: Europe travel for many years now. You can check out these resources for nothing through your local library. Amsterdam is definitely expensive for accommodations; on the positive side there are many options to choose from. Another idea is to rent apartments through airbnb or vrbo/homeaway. Many owners/agencies have multiple places in the same building or on the same street/area. I've not read exactly how many couples you have, but some apartments I've looked at are large enough for 10 people or more. Even if you spend $1000 a day for a high end luxury flat/house, once broken down to a per couple price, you're in your budget and have way more space than a hotel room. Just an out of the box idea you might want to consider.

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I've taken three Celebrity cruises in the last three years ( in addition to a handful of others over the years) and used three different agencies. Even when I liked one responsive and personable TA very much, I couldn't use them for a second time as I was leaving $650.00 per cabin OBC (2 cabins) on the table. Just too much to walk away from. I've never had an issue upgrading, changing cabins or getting a valid price reduction through a TA. Regarding group or special offer bookings(senior, cc member discount, etc) vs. taking 123, many TA's offer paid grats and an OBC already., even on special offers. The difference is only the beverage package. I've found that doing a little math is beneficial; last year we took a 1400 p/cabin discount, paid for drinks outright (about 500 on a port intensive cruise with no skimping, which the OBC covered) and came out way ahead. On that cruise our CruiseCritic compadres were blown away by the cost we paid vs. what most of them paid either directly through celeb or through future cruises during a previous cruise. The cruise business is one crazy game and it does pay to shop!

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You also may want to consider a houseboat for something different. Lots available in the canal ring area. We have a few friends that have rented them for our upcoming cruise in September.

Thanks for that. I've looked, but am having a hard time finding one with 2 private bedrooms and bathrooms!

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So is it better to be inside the canal belt, near Dam for example, or on the west side on one of the other inner canals, or to be outside that belt in Jordaan or south of the museums on the west side? Are most areas safe? Is there one area considered more centrally located?

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Hello,

We're two couples spending 5 days in AMS pre-cruise. We're hoping to rent a 2 br apartment through AirBNB. I've done some thorough searching and there is decent availability, however I'm not certain where/which neighborhoods would suit us best. We plan on seeing the major sites, visiting the museums, getting off the beaten track a bit and perhaps day tripping into the countryside on a couple of days. We're fit and can walk or bike around town without issues. My initial thought was to stay inside the canal belt. Is that a wise choice? There is a lot of availability in Jordaan, near Vondelpark and even in the Pijp area near Albert Cuypmarkt. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Stephanie

I had pretty much narrowed down to Gallery One or the Hilton FL Beach. I'm now leaning towards Gallery. There's little on these boards about the Hilton, yet it gets good reviews on tripadvisor. I guess that's due to most people staying one quick night in a place closer to the port. The hotels are not equal in the Hilton system; the beach hotel will cost more points. Bahia Mar is the least expensive.

envirochick, I too had been looking for Downey Wrinkle Release and recently found it at Target in the washing powder/fabric softener area but I had to really look for it, it has a new label design. Also some WalMart stores still have the small travel size bottles. I love this stuff!

 

If you can't find it you can make something similar by adding liquid fabric softener, not too much, in a spray bottle with water, shake well before each use and it works pretty well in a pinch.

Thank you so much for this!!!! I found the Downy at Target today. Big hugs. Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the most important thing is staying close to attractions, restaurants and transportation options for the two days since we won't have a car. Paying a little extra to get to the airport and port is irrelevant. We want to be in an area that makes it easy to walk around, shop, ride the water taxi, eat and enjoy! We're not necessarily going to spend time basking on the beach, yet staying near or on the beach is certainly more picturesque than staying in a commercial area. I was hoping someone who had stayed at a few or all of the hotels I listed could chime in as well.

I have a dedicated Schwab account that has no foreign transaction fees and refunds all costs associated with ATM withdrawals. I travel internationally often and have never had an issue using it. It works like a charm and you don't have to hunt for a specific bank or ATM card affiliated machine.

What are the best items you take along on a trip? Mine is an empty duffle and Downy Wrinkle release and Bonine.....never leave without them!!

I want to know where you buy Downy Wrinkle Release? Since they took it off the market it is very hard to find and has a premium price. It used to be a travel staple for me too, but stores don't carry it anymore. Thanks.

Well, I guess I didn't think it was as centrally located as we would like and/or close to the beach and Las Olas. More of a quick one night stay before a cruise type of hotel. Is this a poor assumption?

Hello all!

We will be staying in FLL 2 days pre-cruise and 1 day post cruise in November. I have Hilton points that I would like to use. For the two day pre-cruise stay, we'll be there for two full days, so are willing to stay away from the port to be closer to activities and restaurants. We enjoy travelling by water taxi too. We will not have a car.

I have the following options. Which would you choose and why?

Hilton FLL Marina

Gallery One

Bahia Mar

Hilton FLL Beach

Thanks in advance for the replies :)

We sailed in an AS last year. The sofa was not convertible and the table in front of the sofa was fixed, I believe. I'm also sad to see the cabin class change. We had a sublime experience and would not hesitate to book the cabin again.

Thanks so much cruisetail, for the reply. While we love aft balcony sailing and this is the larger balcony, we decided on 8160 instead- triple sized balcony with shade. We were concerned that we'd be broiling in the sun on our upcoming Med. Reflection cruise. I think we'll save aft cabins for other classes of ship unless there's a tremendous sale on SV's! Thanks again.

Ok, let's take a look at the Reflection...

Yes, 7366 is a larger balcony - on all S-Class ships.

 

 

:)

Much thanks for creating this thread. I've learned more than I could ever retain! For an upcoming Reflection cruise I am trying to decide between aft balcony 7366 (4 cabins in from the left) or hump cabin 8160. I've seen your photo for 8160 and it looks very nice. Is 7366 the large aft balcony? In the photos for the other S class ships 4th from the left is considerably larger, not sure on the Reflection and didn't see aft photos for Reflection in the thread. All these decisions....:confused: